All You Need to Know to Start Namu Amida Butsu -UTENA-

If you are a fan of Touken Ranbu (刀剣乱舞), there is no reason not to love the new DMM’s game Namu Amida Butsu -UTENA- (なむあみだ仏っ！-蓮台 UTENA-). Launched this April, the mobile/ PC game has already drawn lots of otome’s attention with its stunning visuals and handsome characters.

The gameplay is simple, and most of them follow the system of Touken Ranbu. But if you want to know more tips about starting the game, the following may help.

*You are reminded to change the time zone of your phone to Japanese Standard Time (JST) before starting the game if you find that the game cannot proceed at a certain point.

▍Getting Started and Story

The game starts when you enter your name and birthday in the above. Please do remember to enter the birthday as the Buddha will send a blessing on that day and the date cannot be changed once the game has started.

It follows the tale as Prince Siddhartha obtains satori (awakening) after defeating Mara, a demon who tries to seduce him on the journey of becoming a buddha. Prince Siddhartha later becomes Shaka Nyorai (釈迦如来) and Mara vows to take revenge by bringing disasters to the world.

Time shifts to the modern world and a new kind of demon, named Kleshas (Affliction) attacks human under the order of Mara. Shaka Nyorai decides to join hands with other Buddha in order to bring peace back to earth.

You, the protagonist, are a normal person who inherits a temple from your grandfather, the temple is used as the home base of these Buddha warriors. Players are referred to as “temple guardian” (堂守) and will live alongside the Buddha warriors in the temple.

▍Battling System

Battle can be simply done by clicking the attack button and you can even turn on the Automatic Attack / Automatic Skills and fast speed button on the top left corner.

Ultimate Skills can be initiated using the button above and each card has its unique skills. A visual will be obtained for each character.

▍Initial Summon and Gacha

After the tutorial, you will get a ★4 Taishakuten (帝釋天) and can select ★5 characters. You are welcomed to select the Butsu that you like. But if you want to take advantages of the leader skills, you are highly suggested to select Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王).

Fudō Myō-ō is currently the only character that has the leader skills of increasing the attack power of the team. It helps a lot as the battles become harder and harder later.

After selecting the ★5 Character, you also have a chance to draw the Gacha 10 times for free. Please note that you can obtain Buddha in the Gacha and also “knowing” (神通), which can be equipped to the Buddha to enhance his abilities and skills.

Gacha Probability

Buddha (仏):★5 – 4%★4 – 14%★3 – 33%

Knowing (神通)★5 – 3%★4 – 12%★3 – 35%

Normally, 30 Orb is needed for 1 gacha and 280 Orb is needed for 10 gacha. The probability of getting ★5 cards is actually quite high with a total of 7% probability, but it may need some patience to get your favorite Buddha.

Another type of Gacha is Friendship Gacha, where you can draw it one time every day for free.

Friendship can be obtained when your friends select your character as the helper in the battle.

▍Control Panel of Home

The control panel of Home is as follows. Each will be explained later:

Shortcut:

▍Team Building

The Buddha is divided into four categories: Wisdom King (明王), Tathagata (如来), Bodhisattva (菩薩), Deva (天). Each category has its own unique leader skill.

Tathagata (如)

Wisdom King (明)

Bodhisattva (菩)

Deva (天)

Increase Life

Increase Attack Power

Increase Defence

Increase Ultimate Attack Power

As there currently no ★5 characters of Deva, so ★5 Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王) remains the best option to be the team leader.

The card category can be found on the top left corner of the card.

Also, each card belongs to one element and each element prevails each other. It is suggested to form the team according to the element of the enemy.

To conclude, Fire>Wind>Earth>Water>Fire and Sky is not affected by other elements.

The element of the enemy is marked in the battle:

As mentioned before, the Buddha can equip “knowing” (神通) and also “seating” (神坐), which can be obtained in battles. ★5 Buddhas can equip three “knowing” and three “seating”, while ★4 Buddhas can equip two “knowing” and two “seating”, and ★3 Buddhas can only equip one of each.

As each equipment has different power, you can simply tap the button of “Recommended Equipment and it will equip them according to the highest attack power, defense power or total power.

▍Training

Under the training button at home, you can select the card for training.

You will then enter the Mandala Board. Enlarge the board with the “+” sign and you can strengthen the card under different abilities- Attack, Merit, Defence, Life.

Practically every ★4 and ★3 character cards can be transformed into★5 in the Mandela Board when the card reaches a certain level. But as ★5 cards have a higher level limit and can carry more equipment, strengthening are suggested to spend on ★5 cards.

Strengthening materials are needed to enhance abilities. Also, when the card levels up, a new Mandala will be opened to enhance more properties

Attack (攻)

Enhance Attack Power

Defense (防)

Enhance Defence Power

Merit (功)

Enhance the Merit Point (The higher the Merit Point, the more chance for the character to induce Critical Attack)

Card Story (物語)

A new story can be obtained

Strengthening materials can be obtained by battling in the Material Market and you can obtain different materials every day.

“Knowing” can also be strengthening by merging the same “Knowing” card.

▍Cards Level-up

Cards can only level up during battles and when the stigma (清心力) of each card reaches zero, the card cannot participate in the battle. Also, stigma needed for each battle is different and is marked below:

Stigma will be restored over time, or it can be restored with stigma items, which can be brought by Orb or obtained in events. Also, when players level up, the stigma of all cards will be restored.

One highlight is that the card’s activity will affect the experience obtained by each card. Therefore, if you want to train a certain card, remember to:

Set that card as leader

Open the Automatic Ultimate Skills Mode

The card who obtain the Lotus Throne (蓮台) gains greater experience.

▍Hall

Hall is a special place where you can see the chibi style of the Buddhas. You can also assign housework to them.

You can also hear special voice lines of the Buddha and decorate the hall according to your own preference. Remember to collect the seed from the Bo Tree as its seed can be used to read stories.

Assigning housework to the Buddha in groups can create special interaction and voice between the pair.

When Buddha finishes a duty, you can obtain coins to buy furniture in the hall.

▍Mission

Daily mission and beginner’s mission can be found in the mission button.

Daily Missions includes:

Collecting seeds from the Botree at Hall

Complete five battles in the Main Story

Complete five battles in the Material Market

Visit five other player’s Hall and send offerings

Assign housework to Buddha

Orb X 25 can be obtained every day when you complete all the mission above.

▍Link Account to PC

As you can also play this game on PC. Your account can be linked to your PC in the Shortcut, which located at the top right corner of Home.

The ID and password can also be used to restore data when you change your mobile.

▍Editor’s Comments

The gameplay may not be sophisticated, but you will enjoy watching the interaction between the Buddha. Each character have vivid personalities and I especially enjoy the short manga shown when the game is loading.

If you are like collecting rare characters and training cards, it may suit you as the probability of getting rare cards is comparatively higher than the other otome games.

Although it reminds a lot of Touken Ranbu, new elements have been added to this game. For example, the Hall system allows you to design the place according to your preferences. The furniture is indeed very nice.

The main story also makes you wonder what happens next and I was seriously amazed by the good look of bad guys. (He is no angels even with the wings XD)

Large amount of Religion reference has been used in the game and the efforts are highly appreciated. It really raise your curiosity of Buddhism and encourage players to discover more on their own.

▲ Waiting for Asura (阿修羅) to come and it is expected to be a strong character.

Renowned voice casts also make the characters more attractive and a lot of characters have not been released yet . Let’s wait for more good news to come.